Washington Hospitals Set Goal

Washington Hospitals Set Goal

Washington hospitals have been working collaboratively on eliminating hospital acquired infections since 2005. Following national professional societies such as the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), the board of the Washington State Hospital Association has set a goal for hospitals in our state: Elimination of Hospital Acquired Infections by 2012The goal focuses on:Central Line Infections Hand Hygiene Methicillin-resistant Staphylococus aureus (MRSA) Pneumonia Care Staff Flu Immunizations Surgical Site Urinary Tract Infections Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

The purpose of the goal is to move our achievements forward. In the coming months, the Patient Safety Program will produce materials to support this work. If you have best practices that you would like to share, contact Cat Ernevad at cate@wsha.org or (206) 577-1820. (Carol Wagner, carolw@wsha.org)

New Comparison Indicators Added to QBS

The Patient Safety Program is responding to hospital requests for additional benchmarking capabilities in the Quality Benchmarking System. Following positive feedback on QBS’s blinded comparison indicator for hand hygiene, the function has been added for four more measures: Patient Falls, Falls with Injury, Pressure Ulcer Incidence, and Central Line Infection Rates. These new indicators will allow hospitals that are submitting data to compare their hospital with others in the state on these important measures. An example of the new chart type can be found here (LINK: http://www.wsha.org/page.cfm?ID=0309). If you have any questions or feedback about the new indicators, contact Ken Rudberg at kenr@wsha.org or 206-577-1851. (Ken Rudberg, kenr@wsha.org)

WSHA Website Updated

WSHA’s transparency web site is now up to date with the most recent Hospital Compare data. The information on WSHA’s website comes from CMS data. Mortality and readmission measures are updated annually. The website can be found by clicking here (link www.wahospitalquality.org) (Ken Rudberg, kenr@wsha.org)

Virginia Mason Leader Earns Patient Safety Honors

CEO of Virginia Mason Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Gary Kaplan, was recently honored with the 2009 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission. Awards are given in five categories. Dr. Kaplan was honored as an individual, and was recognized for “guiding Virginia Mason Medical Center through a transformation that explicitly placed the interests of the patient first. Introducing breakthrough changes derived from the Toyota Production System, Dr. Kaplan spearheaded the creation of the Virginia Mason Production System. The patient safety and quality achievements realized at Virginia Mason as a result of consistently applying these innovative methods has attracted the interest and attention of health care leaders nationally and internationally.” Congratulations to Dr. Kaplan, and all of Virginia Mason, for this deserved recognition! (Carol Wagner, carolw@wsha.org)

Hospitals Encouraged to Comment on Adverse Event Reporting Tool

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) recently released Version 1.0 of the Common Formats for event reporting to Patient Safety Organizations can be found here. (LINK: http://www.pso.ahrq.gov/formats/commonfmt.htm) The Common Formats will be used for the collection and reporting of patient safety adverse event information. There is the possibility that this could become part of regular hospital reporting in the future. Common Formats were designed to improve care by giving hospitals and the public access to trends and patterns in patient safety to identify risks and hazards to patients.

The Agency is working with the National Quality Forum (NQF) to gather feedback to develop future versions of the Common Formats. Comments can be made through December 31, 2009 on AHRQ’s PSO Web site. (LINK: http://www.pso.ahrq.gov/linkdisclaim2.htm) Feedback will be incorporated into Version 1.1 of the Common Formats, scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2010. You are encouraged to submit comments as soon as possible to ensure they are considered during the NQF expert panel meetings. (Carol Wagner, carolw@wsha.org)

Safe Tables are available exclusively to WSHA member hospitals. A full list of 2009 Safe Table events is posted on the WSHA website (link: www.wsha.org/page.cfm?ID=events_PatientSafety.) For more information or to register for any of the Safe Table events, please contact Janet Van Dyke at janetv@wsha.orgor (206) 577-1839.